This case study, framed within a school-university partnership, highlights the tensions inherent to employing design-based approaches for educational change. The case illustrates core tensions between an abductive, open-ended, design-based approach to change versus more traditional (deductive/inductive) approaches to managing change in schools.…

Transition services can be used to forge family, school, and community partnerships and foster a successful shift to adult life for students with intellectual disabilities (ID). School psychologists can play a valuable additive role in supporting the transition process due to their graduate training in interpersonal skills; consultation services;…

In 2011, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) and the City Council's Middle School Taskforce launched the Middle School Quality Initiative (MSQI) as an instructional intervention for improving literacy levels in the lowest performing middle schools in New York City. The initiative grew rapidly and now serves over 100 schools and…

Afterschool and competency-based learning are increasingly emerging as student-centered, supportive learning models to prepare students for college and career. This white paper explores the intersection and relationship between these two fields, recommends ideal policy environments for implementing successful programs, provides real-world…

This article describes an urban high school's response to gun violence, chronicling how the school's mission, full-service community orientation, and commitment to authentic cariño (caring) allowed students to respond to grief and tragedy and develop an ongoing peace building movement that seeks to transform students' lives and the communities…

The high demand for scientists and engineers in the workforce means that there is a continuing need for more strategies to increase student completion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. The challenge lies in finding and enacting effective strategies to increase students' completion of STEM degrees and in recruiting…

The administration and community used to place little or no value on physical education and attendance, and attitudes toward our profession were stereotypical and disrespectful. Yet, at some level, there were people quietly longing for a change. This article describes how the author used her passion for yoga to win over her students and,…

In this article, Oakmont Regional High School (Ashburnham, Massachusetts) librarian Jeffrey Aubuchon describes how the school library is developing a new classification scheme called the Spartan system. This system seeks to mirror instructional practices at Oakmont. The major divisions of the collection will be drawn around academic departments…

A group of New York City public school teachers, angry about the depiction of public schools in 'Waiting for Superman," decide to make their own film about the realities of the current education reform movement. They persevered even though they had no budget when they started and lacked a background in filmmaking. "The Inconvenient Truth…

Local issues that combine economic, environmental, and equity impacts make excellent contexts for interdisciplinary teaching. An instructional unit, "Should We Use Wood for Energy? A High School Education Program," was developed by the University of Florida's School of Forest Resources and Conservation to engage high school students in…

The purpose of this article is to provide evidence of how an integrated high school health, physical education, and wellness program can be implemented. In addition to describing the process used to develop and maintain this wellness curriculum, the article describes the content of the curriculum and how the teachers were able to capture and hold…

The goal of this research study has been to develop, implement, and evaluate a school reform design experiment at a continuation high school with low-income, low-performing underrepresented minority students. The complexity sciences served as a theoretical framework for this design experiment. Treating an innovative college preparatory program as…

As part of the Advanced Placement (AP) Program's commitment to continually enhance alignment with current best practices in college-level learning, the AP Program is currently evaluating and redesigning courses and exams, one of which launched during the 2013-2014 academic school year: AP chemistry. The history of the AP chemistry course and…

What does it take to change a school's mathematics achievement profile from low to one that is proficient and advanced? Is this transformed achievement profile sustainable? Such is the story presented here, in this three-phase case study of a K-8 urban charter school's mathematics program. The first phase discusses the school's…

Drawing from two international measures, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) and Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), this brief provides a snapshot comparison of the United States to other education systems. Specifically, this brief addresses how the U.S. compares to other countries in overall…